


Defective Spectrum

by Vulpine_Lover



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Emotions, F/F, Steven Universe AU, lots of emotions
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-14
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-08-31 01:55:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8558665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vulpine_Lover/pseuds/Vulpine_Lover
Summary: This is an AU set on an earth where Rose Quartz's rebellion was crushed and . The story revolves around a cast of original characters left gem society or have never gotten to know it because their defects and subsequently dealing with their respective defects and issues together.





	1. Rage and Greif

**Author's Note:**

> This is cross posted from FanFic.net

                The green skinned gem stood on the scaffolding, hammer and chisel in hand, chipping away at the stone with a steady rhythm. After a while she stopped and took a step back to inspect her work,  quite pleased with the way the murals that were scrawled across the dome shaped ceiling had come out. Once she finished looking over her work she climbed down the scaffolding. She walked over to a white skinned gem who had been quietly standing there the entire time she had been working.

                "Achroite, will you go inform Watermelon Tourmaline that I have finished the murals." The green one ordered.

                "I'll get right on it Verdelite." Achroite responded, giving a slight bow. She exited the Pyramid Temple and stepped onto the warp pad.

                She was warped to the center of the Sigma Kindergarten and Tourmaline Headquarters, which specialized in creating and managing tourmaline soldiers. Achroite hurriedly made her way towards Watermelon Tourmaline's temple, which was located in the center of the Kindergarten. She weaved through the congregation of tourmalines that were scattered around the courtyard in front of the temple. In her haste she accidently bumped into a Indicolite with enough force to knock herself down. Indicolites were one of the highest ranking tourmalines, just under Watermelon Tourmalines, while Achroites were the lowest ranking tourmaline. When she bumped into the Indicolite everyone around them stopped their chatter and looked at them, their faces said it all, they were wondering what was about to happen. The Indicolite turned around and looked down at Achroite with disgust. They materialized their battle axe and, as Achroite threw her hands up in a vain attempt to shield herself,  brought it crashing down. The axe cleaved right through Achroite's gem, poofing her body in the process, and sunk into the ground.

-Meanwhile-

                Verdelite walked around the inside of the Temple's main room, inspecting her work one last time. The longer she was in there the stronger the feeling grew that something was off. " _Achroite shouldn't be taking so long, I might need to check on her to see if everything's okay"_ She thought to herself _._ Out of concern, Verdelite left the temple and stepped onto the warp pad, she was warped to the Sigma Kindergarten. When she got there most of the gems had gathered around and were watching something going on near the center of the court. She managed to get close enough to see what was going on through the wall of gems. She heard the weak whimper Achroite let slip as she realized her fate, saw the look of fear on her face as she was cleaved in two. As she processed what she had seen she felt a sensation of gut wrenching, sickening  grief and . She shoved the gems in front of her out of the way while materializing her weapon, a beautifully green colored, clever styled long sword  .

                "You took... what was... mine." Verdelite growled, grasping the long sword with both hands she made a wide sweeping swing.

                "What do you care? It was just an  Achroite, absolutely worthless. It was so clumsy it bumped into me, something that inept doesn't deserve to live" The Indicolite replied, effortlessly parrying the attack  with its axe.

                "You... didn't know HER!" Verdelite roared, as the Indicolite continued to brush aside Verdelite's flurry of attacks.

                "You can't beat me, I'm a first class warrior and your just a weak little historian." The Indicolite taunted.

                "Mine... mine... mine, you had NO RIGHT TO SHATTER HER!" Verdelite roared again, the injectors that dotted the landscape started to creak and groan. The crowd started to get worried and began to dispel.

                "I said you can't beat ME!" The Indicolite grunted as they took a hard swing at Verdelite, who attempted to block it. The axe hit with so much force it shattered Verdelite's sword and threw her against the canyon wall.

                "Mine... she was mine... she was the only thing I had." Verdelite mumbled with a dazed expression, the having stunned her. The injectors started to violently shudder and come crashing down, the little crowd that was left fleeing.

                "Whats happening?" The Indicolite glanced around, confused. The crystalline parts of the injectors were being ripped from the wreckage.

                "Now I have nothing... but the loneliness again..." Verdelite stated as tears rolled down her cheeks, she ran her hands through her dark green hair. The crystalline shards began to launch themselves at the Indicolite's general direction, a few even grazing them.

                "Are you doing this?" The Indicolite interrogated, she grabbed Verdelite's right hand and lifted her off the ground, threatening to crush her gem.

                "... BECAUSE OF YOU!" Verdelite screamed, tears rolling down even harder. The shards started to fly around even fiercer, lodging themselves in the Indicolite's back. The Indicolite dropped Verdelite and staggered back.

                "Damn yo-" The Indicolite was cut short when a large shard pierced their chest, poofing them. Verdelite slowly clambered back up to her feet and walked over to the Indicolite's gem, her crying had not ceased. She materialized another sword and lightly placed the tip on the gemstone.

                "You delivered Achroite to the cold embrace of death, so let me do the same for you!" She cried as she pressed the blade into the gemstone, cracks forming and running across its surface, then with a shove it shattered.

                Verdelite dematerialized the blade and staggered over to Achroite's shards. She picked them up and trudged over to the warp pad, and with an eruption of light vanished.


	2. Snowy Solitude

                Zeta Kindergarten, a bitterly cold, snowy, and isolated place. It used to function as a research laboratory, but was abandoned after an experiment went awry and shattered several lab members. The snow that had accumulated on the warp pad was blasted away by the light erupting from the warp pad as Verdelite warped to the kindergarten Using the moonlight reflecting off the snow to navigate, she trudged through the almost knee deep snow, walking deeper into the kindergarten, while still tightly clutching the pieces of Achroite's gem in her right hand. She walked up to one of the sheer cliffs that surrounded the kindergarten, putting her back up against it, slid down to sit in the snow. Staring at the pieces of Achroite's gem, she began to cry again. This time her cries were full of gut wrenching anguish and sorrow, the sounds of her crying echoing throughout the kindergarten.

-Meanwhile-

                The dark green gem sat on the snow, looking up at the stars and quietly contemplating what could be out there. She was startled by cries that tore through the once silent kindergarten, so she stood up and with a single leap ascended to the top of the sheer cliff near her. She landed softly and walked towards the other edge of the cliff, going prone as she came closer to the edge. Peering over the ledge she saw an unfamiliar gem sitting against at the bottom of the opposite cliff, crying profusely and emitting screams of pure grief. The dark green gem continued to observe the one crying, trying to figure out why they had come here. She silently hoped down the ledges that dotted the front of the cliff face she had been standing above, to get a closer look at the crying gem. The crying gem was to focused on crying and something she was holding in her hand to notice her. Her curiosity got the better of her as she slowly walked around to the side of the unfamiliar gem to get a better look at what she was clutching. When the dark green gem got close enough to see what the other gem was holding, her eyes widened from shock as she let out a quick, sharp gasp. It was the pieces of a shattered gem, and all of a sudden she understood why her voice carried so much anguish and sadness. She stooped down and gathered some snow and patted it into a crude snowball, she then threw it near the upset gem to grab her attention.

                "Hey!" The dark green gem shouted.

                "Wha-, who are you?" The other gem whimpered, tear stains on her face and clothes.

                "My name is Bloodstone, what's yours?" She replied, walking closer to the other gem.

                "Verdelite." The other gem whispered, looking up at Bloodstone.

                "May I sit next to you?" Bloodstone asked.

                "I guess." Verdelite replied.

                "Were you close?" Bloodstone asked sitting down, even sunken down in the snow Verdelite was taller than her.

                " Wha?" Verdelite responded, not making the connection between Bloodstone's question and Achroite's shards.

                "Were you close to that gem, if you don't mind me asking." Bloodstone clarified.

                "She was the only friend I've ever had." Verdelite answered, on the verge of tears once more. Just thinking about Achroite now made her so upset. Seeing her obvious pain about losing her only friend, Bloodstone reached over and embraced Verdelite in an attempt to console her. Verdelite was taken aback by the gesture, and began to cry again.

                "I'm sorry." Bloodstone whispered, tightening her embrace.

                "Why?" Verdelite asked.

                "You shouldn't have had to lose someone so close to you like you did." Bloodstone replied, still embracing Verdelite.

                "I lost a lot more than just Achroite, I lost my ability to ever go back to gem society, I'm a fugitive." Verdelite sighed.

                "Why can't you go back?" Bloodstone inquired.

                "I shattered a first class military escort for shattering Achroite." Verdelite stated.

                "Will they be sending anyone after you?" Bloodstone asked, breaking the embrace.

                "Not if I don't go back, if I hide out they would probably assume I'm shattered." Verdelite theorized.

                "Were are you going to hide out, until this blows over?" Bloodstone questioned.

                "Here seems like the best option." Verdelite responded.

                "And what if you lead them into my kindergarten what then?" Bloodstone asked, visibly showing concern for herself and Verdelite.

                "I'll fight them off like I did the Indicolite, and if they send more, I'll keep fighting." Verdelite stated.

                "Do you really think you could defeat them all?" Bloodstone inquired.

                "I'd much rather fight to the bitter end than let them shatter me without putting up a fight." Verdelite replied, as she stood up and slammed her fist against the cliff face."I won't let them take anything else from me."

                "If the time comes I will fight with you." Bloodstone reassured.

                "Wha, you just met me. Why would you want to fight with me?" Verdelite asked, baffled by Bloodstone's comment.

                " Even though I just met you I can tell you're a good gem, and that's worth protecting." Bloodstone responded.

                "Thanks that means more than you could possibly imagine to me." Verdelite made known.

-A Few Days Later-

                The snow that had re-hidden the warp pad was blasted off by its activation, and off stepped a squad of Schorl class tourmaline. Several Lucchesiite and Povondraite, lead by a Fluor-Uvite, began to fan out from the warp pad, looking for the gem that had shattered Watermelon Tourmaline's top escort.  The Schorl were scouring the kindergarten when Verdelite caught a glimpse of them.

                "Hey Bloodstone, we have a problem." She whispered to Bloodstone who was standing next to her.

                "What's the problem?" Bloodstone whispered back. She was sure she already knew what the problem was.

                "The Tourmalines have sent a squadron of Schorl soldiers after me." Verdelite answered.

                "Follow me, I know a way out of the kindergarten from here." Bloodstone said, motioning Verdelite to follow with her hand.

                "But the pieces of Achroite's gem are on the other side of the Kindergarten. I have to go get her." Verdelite pleaded.

                "Ok, I'll watch your back while you go get her. Use that hole over there, it's connected to a tunnel that comes out near where you need to go." Bloodstone explained.

                "Understood. Thank you." Verdelite replied. She ducked into the hole and crawled through the tunnel, emerging on the other side of the kindergarten. She took a swift glance around before sprinting over to the ledge she had set Achroite on. Grabbing the pieces she started to sprint back, when one of the Povondraite spotted her. The Povondraite materialized their bow and started firing arrows at Verdelite while alerting the others. The snow near Verdelite warped into a wall of ice, protecting her from the arrows. _"This is just like when I fought the Indicolite, was I somehow controlling the injector shards? Am I controlling the snow now?"_ Verdelite thought to herself. She focused on the ice wall and tried to manipulate its size, causing it to grow taller and wider. _"It was me, I can control crystals!"_ She realized. Then she got an idea, she started warping the snow under the Povondraite's feet and without warning, tall thin spike erupted from the snow, poofing the Povondraite. she then encased its gem in ice, ensuring it couldn't reform.

                The Lucchesiite were fast approaching Verdelite, who in an attempt to slow them down, encased their lower legs in ice. Then without any warning they poofed and standing behind where they stood was Bloodstone, she was holding a great axe easily three times taller than herself. Verdelite stopped marveling at Bloodstone long enough to encased the poofed Lucchesiites. The other Povondraites had taken positions around the area and began pelting Bloodstone and Verdelite with various projectiles. With a couple swift movements Bloods great axe became a great shield and a glaive, which she used to block the onslaught of projectiles.

                "Get behind my shield we're leaving now." Bloodstone ordered, altering the size of the shield to accommodate both of them. Verdelite complied, swiftly getting behind Bloodstone's shield. The two made their way back to the tunnel, and once inside Verdelite warped the snow to block the entrance. They quickly crawled through the tunnel, and emerged out of the Povondraites line of site.

                "Follow me." Bloodstone stated. Verdelite complied once more as the two walked a ways deeper into this section of the kindergarten, towards a cave like opening. The cave was pitch black, so Verdelite raised her right hand and illuminated the way with her gem, after walking for a little while they came across a heavy metal door.

                "What is this place?" Verdelite asked.

                "This is the old lab, there's a warp pad in the back room." Bloodstone replied as she shoved the door open. The two walked through the dusty and half finished projects in the main lab, coming up on a door in the back of the lab. They came up to the door to the backroom, which was already ajar, and pushed it open with the horrid screeching of the hinges.

                "Where do you plan on going?" Bloodstone inquired.

                "We have to go somewhere they won't ever think to go, somewhere so abandoned they don't even remember it exists." Verdelite mused aloud.

                "And where is that exactly?" Bloodstone questioned.

                "Wasure Temple, in Rho Kindergarten. The place consigned to oblivion." Verdelite explained.

                "What's that place?" Bloodstone asked.

                "Millennia ago, when Earth was just starting to be colonized, I was sent to do some artwork on the interior of a temple in a promising kindergarten. It wasn't long after I had left that we got news saying the huge temple along with a portion of the kindergarten had simply vanished, wiped out of existence, nothing but a crater. The search didn't turn up anything either." Verdelite continued.

                "How are we going somewhere that doesn't exist anymore?" Bloodstone blurted out, she was even more confused.

                 "It still exists, but the entire kindergarten was warped to a new location after the inhabitants were shattered." Verdelite explained.

                "How was an entire portion of a kindergarten warped?!" Bloodstone yelled. She was so confused she was getting frustrated.

                "Lightning struck the warp pads near the temple and the explosion warped everything remotely close by, fortunately they hadn't begun incubating and no one was stationed there yet." Verdelite finished.

                "How do you know so much about it if no one knew what happened?" Bloodstone asked.

                "I saw a flash of light as I warped away. Once I heard that it had vanished I put two and two together." Verdelite stated.

                "So how are we getting there if the warp pad exploded?" Bloodstone inquired again.

                "There's one in the main plaza inside the temple itself. Now let's get going, we've wasted enough time." Verdelite said as she stepped up onto the warp pad, and with Bloodstone following suit they warped to Rho Kindergarten.


	3. Escape To Oblivion

                The layer of snow covering the warp pad was blasted off, as Verdelite and Bloodstone arrived at Wasure Temple's plaza. The large plaza was surrounded by a larger structure made of smooth white stone laced with carvings and covered in a layer of fresh snow. Verdelite walked over to one of the snow covered structures that were scattered about the plaza and gently brushed off the snow.

                "I remember when I was sent here to work on these." Verdelite reminisced.

                "What, the statues?" Bloodstone asked.

                "The statues, the friezes, the murals, if it's considered art I made it." Verdelite responded.

                "This place is huge, how did you do it all by yourself?" Bloodstone marveled.

                "I was given the option to request an assistant for this project, which I did. Watermelon Tourmaline respected the quality of my work and let me hand pick an Achroite. I was presented with some of the best Achroites we had. After a little deliberation I choose the Achroite that I saw the most potential in." Verdelite explained.

                "Potential for what?" Bloodstone inquired.

                "The potential to become my permanent assistant. Watermelon Tourmaline told me if I made the temple fit for a Diamond, I could keep the Achroite I choose as my permanent assistant." Verdelite elaborated.     

                "That explains why all these pieces are so high quality, truly fit for a diamond." Bloodstone commented.

                "Thanks. I put everything into these, because I knew if I did I'd get to keep her. Then I wouldn't have to live in the loneliness anymore." Verdelite turned to face Bloodstone," Well we should go check out the condition of the inside."

                "Where should we start?"Bloodstone asked.

                "Well we should probably check the generator and get the power working again if it's off. Then we should check the condition of the equipment in the research wing." Verdelite suggested.

                "That sounds like a good place to start." Bloodstone replied. The two walked over to one of the doors that lead into the temple and Verdelite attempted to open it but it wouldn't budge.

                "How are we going to get it open?" Verdelite asked.

                "Allow me." Bloodstone replied and she wedged her gloved fingers into the small gap in the door. The door began to creak and pop loudly as Bloodstone started prying it open. She finally forced an opening wide enough for the two to enter with one last heave.

                "Your size truly belies your strength." Verdelite commented.

                "That's why underestimating me gets you shattered. Now, where's the generator located?" Bloodstone asked.

                "The generator is located inside the Inner Temple. We're in the West Wing, so if we turn right here and again at the end of this hall, the door should be around the center of the South Hall." Verdelite recalled.

                "Your memory is pretty sharp if you can remember this place's layout so well." Bloodstone remarked.

                "All Verdelites have  photographic memory, that's what makes us such reliable historians, if we've witnessed it we can recall every detail about it." Verdelite stated, her face showing some pride in the fact that she had photographic memory.

                Verdelite and Bloodstone walked down the West Wing, with the former once again illuminating the way with the green light from her gem. The halls were covered in murals and other decorative artwork, even tinted green by the light and having been abandoned for a millennia and a half, they looked vibrant and beautiful. They finally came to the end of the West Wing and turned right, carefully navigating their way through the South Hall, watching the left wall for the door to the Inner Temple, known as a Temple Gate. Eventually they came upon a slightly larger door that lacked any visible way to open it.

                "How do we get in if we can't open it? There's no latch or hand scanner." Bloodstone stated.

                "That's because you have to use your gem." Verdelite answered. She placed her right hand on the Temple Gate, a glowing green line split the door and the sides slid back. "Let's get the power back on."

                Verdelite lead Bloodstone through the doorway and into a room lined with various machinery. Verdelite walked over to a pad with four prongs extending out from the sides, pipes ran from the base of the pad to various locations inside and outside the room. Nothing in the room was lit up and nothing could be heard running, everything was dead.

                "Stand back, I'm going to try to jump start this thing." Verdelite warned. She began to rub her hands together vigorously.

                "What are you doing?" Bloodstone asked, looking at Verdelite with a perplexed expression.

                "Verdelites have a variety of weaker abilities, including pyro and piezoelectric properties, so by generating heat and pressure I should be able to create a strong spark" Verdelite elaborated, her hands began to spark with increasingly brighter and larger jolts. "Here we go!" She grabbed the prongs, the sparks leaping between the prongs, then she let go and took  few steps back. A small sphere of electricity was beginning to form  in the center of the prongs, growing larger and larger, until it filled most of the space between them. Electricity arced from the sphere to the prongs and vice versa, machinery in the room started to light up and hum. Lights flickered on across the temple and torches on the outside sparked to life, burning with vibrant blue flames.

                "You're just full of surprises aren't you." Bloodstone quipped.

                "Not anymore, you've seen everything now. On another note, that jump start won't last forever, we need to find a better source of energy." Verdelite said, looking at some of the monitors scattered around the room.

                "Where are we going to find something like that?" Bloodstone asked.

                "I don't know, give me some time to figure out how to use these properly." Verdelite replied, studying the console on the other side of the room.

                "Okay, don't overwork yourself." Bloodstone stated, turning around and leaving the room.

-Several Days Later-

                Verdelite was typing furiously on the console, almost in a trance like state. The monitor displayed several open windows each with bountiful amounts of coding scrawled across them, her eyes scanning back and forth across the lines as she typed. Multiple warning and authorization messages began to pop up across the screen, she was trying to connect the consoles in the temple with the network the Gems had set up on Earth. Under normal circumstances it wouldn't be such a difficult task, but these consoles were getting to the point of being archaic, and required much more time and effort to use let alone connect to something technologically superior. Verdelite stopped typing when she heard the Temple Gate open.

                "How's it goi- what the heck are on your arms?!" Bloodstone blurted out.

                "These are limb enhancers, they're usually used by technicians, but they come in pretty handy for using consoles and they can make portable screens with a variety of other functions, I found a couple sets in the storage room." Verdelite replied, her lower arms and hands were covered by a conical metal piece with detached and floating fingers.

                "But why are you wearing the leg pieces too?" Bloodstone inquired.

                "My arms felt too long without them." Verdelite replied.

                "Okay, how's your progress on figuring out how to connect with the network?" Bloodstone asked.

                "Much further than before, I've just got to figure out the pass code to let me view any report I want. I made a program to configure and test pass codes for me, but I have to enter the used pass codes to keep it from using them again." Verdelite responded, turning back to the console and resuming typing. Shortly after resuming Verdelite let out an excited yelp.

                "What was that for? Did you get it connected?" Bloodstone questioned as she swiftly made her way to the console.

                "Yeah, give me a little time to look for power sources and places we can get them." Verdelite requested.

                "Okay, don't work yourself to hard though, you've already been at this for several days." Bloodstone warned as she left the room.

-Later That Day-

                "Hey Bloodstone!" Verdelite yelled as she ran down the East Wing, a limb enhancer still on her left arm.

                "What?" Bloodstone asked in response.

                "I found a suitable power source that's in another abandoned kindergarten, Gamma Kindergarten." Verdelite replied.

                "What's the power source, and why are you wearing just the arm piece?" Bloodstone asked.

                "Radioactive material, we just need a small amount, and it's for locating the material once we get to Gamma." Verdelite answered.

                "I will go with you." Bloodstone insisted.

                "Sure." Verdelite responded. The two walked out of the East Wing door to the plaza and through the snow to the warp pad, they stepped on it and were warped away.


	4. Bleeding Wounds

                Gamma Kindergarten was a nice change of pace, it was warm and the sun was shining. The warp pad was located on a rock pillar that was surrounded by water, with a rock bridge connecting it to the kindergarten. There was a small waterfall over to the side that supplied the river below with water. There were still some injectors here and there, among the rocky cliff faces of the open kindergarten.

                "This is great they even have some injectors that look to be in good shape." Verdelite said as the two walked over the bridge, Verdelite used the limb enhancer's fingers to make a screen and began typing with the leftover finger.

                "What are doing?" Bloodstone asked, trying to get a better look at the screen.

                "Pulling up a map of the kindergarten, among other useful things." Verdelite responded. "Hmm, seems what we're after is there." Verdelite pointed down to a hole down at the river bank. The two walked down stairs cut out of the rock and hopped down to the river bank walking river to the columns of holes.

                "Which one of these is it?" Bloodstone inquired.

                "It's that one, we're going to have to go further in though, that's where the readings the strongest." Verdelite answered, deforming the screen and reconfiguring the fingers. There was one finger in the middle with the others angled towards it. "Stand back, I don't really know how to use this properly." Verdelite warned.

                "Stand back for what?" Bloodstone wondered. Then an orb of energy began to form in front of Verdelite's limb enhancer, growing larger, then it flew forward into the hole. It exploded when it came in contact with the back wall, dust billowing out of the hole.

                "You okay." Verdelite asked.

                "I'm good." Bloodstone responded.

                "I'll go get some of the material." Verdelite volunteered, reconfiguring her fingers into a screen. The dust had died down considerable by the time she entered, she walked to the back and scanned the rubble, determining what pieces had the highest concentration of radioactivity. She picked a few up and walked back out, handing them to Bloodstone.

                "What now?" Bloodstone inquired.

                "I'm going to take a few parts from those injectors to help improve the energy efficiency." Verdelite responded.

                "You know a lot about this stuff, I thought you were an artist and historian." Bloodstone mused.

                "I've been around for a few thousand years, so I've seen all kinds of things. I also spent some time using the console to look into some more modern technology I could outfit the power room with" Verdelite explained.

-Meanwhile-

                A dusty, cloaked gem stands near the top of the waterfall, walking closer to the edge as she watches the newcomers. She watches as the newcomers make their way to her hole, talking about something. She hopped over a gap between the waterfall and the top of the other cliff face, then again onto the bridge to better listen to their conversation. Then the green one with the thing on her arm fires something off, destroying the original shape of her hole. She felt a twinge of joy as she looked at the deformed hole, but it was quickly replaced by the notion that these newcomers were hostile, they had destroyed part of her territory after all. She felt the need to assert her dominance over these newcomers like she did the wildlife near here.

                The cloaked gem jumped off the bridge, materializing her scythe and landing in between the others. Before Verdelite could react, Bloodstone had already summoned her glaive and shield, blocking the cloaked gem's over the right diagonal slash. Verdelite swiftly slipped the limb enhancer off her arm and materialized her long sword, taking a defensive stance. The cloaked gem tried to take Bloodstone's feet out from underneath her with a sweeping low kick. Blood jumped the kick and moved to block the cloaked gem's follow up spin, the scythe blade glancing off the shield. The cloaked gem darted over towards the hole and side slid, scooping up some loose debris, and jumping back up she bounded over to Bloodstone. She slid around the shield and threw the debris right into her eyes, Bloodstone staggered back, trying to wipe the debris out of her eyes. The cloaked gem takes the opportunity to take a low swipe at Verdelite's legs, in response Verdelite jumped the swing. Verdelite had played into the cloaked gem's hand and for the few seconds she was airborne she was left open to the cloaked gem's diagonal up slash. Verdelite's reaction was fast enough to partially deflect the slash with her blade, but it was deflected into her left arm, which almost got severed.  The cloaked gem was about to perform a follow up move when Bloodstone blindsided her with a shield bash fueled with enough brute force to knock the cloaked gem down the embankment.

                "Are you okay?" Bloodstone fretted, looking at Verdelite's arm.

                "Yeah. If she comes back, hold her off for a moment I'm going to try something." Verdelite requested. A few of the closer injectors started shuddering as she tried to pull the crystals out of them.

                "On it." Bloodstone replied.

                The cloaked gem made sure she was out of the newcomers' sight before she got up, she was right next to the water's edge. The newcomers were much stronger than the wildlife around here, she would have to try something. She made her way back towards the water fall and once she made it under the stone bridge she turned and got on the level above the newcomers. The cloaked gem imbedded her scythe in the ground near the edge and drug it and she moved in an attempt to trap the newcomers under a rockslide. As the rocks began to fall Bloodstone held her shield above her and Verdelite's heads and warped it large enough to cover them both properly. The rocks began to pound the shield, some beginning to build up on the top of the shield, Verdelite finally managed to rip the crystals from the injectors. The cloaked gem hopped down from above and landed in front of the two, she took a sweep at their legs but the blade was halted abruptly by a long thick crystal that had caught the scythe through the hole in the blade. Unfortunately it was stopped after it sliced through the front of Bloodstone's legs, unable to take the strain from the weight of the rocks atop her shield she dropped to her knees. her shield leaned over to the side, taking the cloaked gem by surprise and pinning her under some of the rocks, taking the opportunity Verdelite warped all the crystals into restraints around the cloaked gem, who dematerialized her scythe in defeat. Verdelite turned her attention to Bloodstone when she saw her shield and glaive dematerialize.

                "B-Bloodstone you're bleeding!" Verdelite gasped.

                "W-what?!" Bloodstone picked up the hand she had on the ground, it was dripping with dark purple blood. Panicking she looked down to see more blood pooling from under her legs

                "Gems don't bleed, so why are you?" Verdelite questioned, holding up her left arm and pointing to the gash almost severing her arm, not a drop of blood to be seen, just a chunk missing from her manifested form.

                "I d-don't know." Bloodstone replied.

                "Let's worry about this later, let's get you back to the temple." Verdelite stated, stooping down with her back facing Bloodstone. She grabbed Bloodstone's hands and heaved her onto her back, Bloodstone wrapping her arms around her. She repositioned her arms under Bloodstone's legs to better hold her. Verdelite heard a grunt and turned around, facing the cloaked gem.

                "Take me with you, I'd rather be your prisoner than stay in this place."  Tears started to well up and roll down her cheeks," If you won't take me prisoner than shatter me like the defect I am."

                The restraints around her were warped into several smaller shards, that were then warped around the rubble pinning her down. The crystal wrapped rubble was telekinetically lifted off her and moved to the side.

                " If you really want to leave this place, then you can follow us back ,you can even stay at the temple. I'll leave you to your own devices, but if you do anything even remotely harmful to Bloodstone or I, I will make you wish you were shattered here. " Verdelite warned. She began the climb back up to the warp pad. The cloaked gem got up and followed them back to the warp pad, they stepped onto it and were warped to the temple.

-A Few Moments Later-

                The light shot up from the plaza warp pad as the trio was warped to the temple. Verdelite stepped off first and walked a little ways towards  one of the doors before stopping.

                "What's your name?" She asked without turning around.

                "Zircon, but I call myself Zi." The cloaked gem replied.

                "The temple gate is through this door, you can go make yourself a room." Verdelite stated, starting to walk towards the door again.

                "I've never seen so much snow." Zircon observed, glancing around at the snow covered landscape.

                "Welcome to Wasure Temple." Verdelite responded coldly before disappearing into the South Hall. She walked up to the temple gate and placed her hand on it, a bright, glowing green line split the door in half and the sides slid back, revealing the power room. Verdelite sat Bloodstone in one of the chairs and went rummaging through the supply room, emerging with a roll of something.

                "What's that for?" Bloodstone asked.

                "It's to stop your bleeding there's a trail of blood leading all the way here." Verdelite answered as she started to wrap the gashes on Bloodstone's legs, in the process some of the blood got smeared on Verdelite's gem. Her gem glowed brightly and the gash on her arm began to close up.

                "What just happened, my wound, it's... healed!" Verdelite gasped.

                "What?!" Bloodstone responded, equally as shocked.

                "Your blood got on my gem and it healed me, you must have some sort of healing power that stems from your blood coming in contact with a gem's gemstone." Verdelite theorized, thoroughly inspecting her arm.

                  "Maybe I can heal cracked and even shattered gems with it." Bloodstone wondered.

                "It would be amazing if you could heal shattered gems, but I doubt if anything can heal them." Verdelite replied. "I'm going to go start setting up my room, I want you to take it easy until you wounds close so we don't have blood all over the floor okay."

                "Okay." Bloodstone replied.


	5. Picture Perfect Fallen Angel

_(I do not own the lyrics used in this chapter. They belong to their respective owners and are being used for non-profit entertainment purposes.)_

                In the months following the visit to Gamma Kindergarten the gems had created their own rooms in the temple. Verdelite made a trip back to Gamma to get the things they had left behind, the limb enhancer and the material, along with some parts from the injectors. She had affixed the injector parts to the prongs and pad of the generator, then she placed the radioactive material into the orb of electricity. They had cleaned up the temple and fixed up most of the equipment that had fallen into disrepair. Verdelite and Bloodstone had grown closer, they had also started to bond with Zircon. Verdelite and Bloodstone had started testing the extent of her healing blood by trying to fix Achroite's gem, none of which had been successful.

                Verdelite had spent a lot of time crafting her room, which was positioned on the lowest floor of the inner temple, near the power room. The top and bottom of the walls were lined with large clusters of a brightly luminescent white crystals, there were some smaller clusters scattered throughout the room giving off a faint glow, piping from the power room ran across the ceiling. In the center of the room was a crystalline pedestal, warped into an elegant form, atop it rested the pieces of Achroite's gem. The top of the pedestal was angled, facing towards the back of the room. There was an easel made of crystal and offset from the pedestal so that Verdelite could see Achroite's gem while she worked, there was also a crystalline stump like seat in front of the easel. Nest to the easel was a small table made of crystal that had her brushes and other tools on it. Near the easel was a long curved table also made of crystal, materials for making paint and other mediums were neatly arranged on it.

                Verdelite was at the table mixing some powder in a bowl with some liquid from a cylinder. Then she poured a little bit of it on a palette, which already had a variety of other colors on it, she took the palette over to the easel and took a seat. She picked up one of her brushes and dipped it into one of the colors on the palette, bringing the tip up to the canvas, she began to paint. As she painted she began to hum, then sing.

" You lived your life like you were on fire  
But how Can I Dance, when your soul just lifted me  
Higher and higher and higher

Paint bleeds, ink runs, image of your love  
Your memory, our history (Why did you have to go?)

 

I'd give up my eyes to see you one last time  
And I'd give all my fingertips to touch you  
And I could paint you picture perfect even if I were blinded  
But you have to die for me to see how to live

 

(For me to see how, for me to see how oh,   
For me to see how, for me to see how to live)

 

I live my life hiding in shadows but now I can see  
'Cause your soul is lifting me  
Higher and higher and higher

 

Paint bleeds, I can't breathe, need you here with me  
Close my eyes I can feel you close (Why did you have to go?)

 

I'd give up my eyes to see you one last time  
And I'd give all my fingertips to touch you  
And I could paint you picture perfect even if I were blinded  
But you have to die for me to see how to live

 

Angels falls  
It's not your fault  
Life goes on without you  
Goodbye old friend  
We'll meet again  
Life goes on without you

(Why did you have to go?)

 

I'd give up my eyes to see you one last time  
And I'd give all my fingertips to touch you  
And I could paint you picture perfect even if I were blinded  
You have to die to see me how to live

 

(For me to see how, for me to see how oh,   
For me to see how, for me to see how to live)"

_(Picture Perfect-Escape The Fate)_

 

                " That was very touching." Bloodstone commented, standing in front of the temple gate.

                "W-wha, how much did you hear?" Verdelite asked, a dark green blush spread across her face.

                "Just the last bit. Anyways, did you forget we're supposed to do more testing today?" Bloodstone responded.

                "Sorry, I got sidetracked." Verdelite apologized, setting her palette and brushes down. She got off the stump and walked over to the pedestal, gently picking up the pieces of Achroite's gem. Then she walked over to Bloodstone and placed her hand on the door, it was split by a glowing green line and slid back. The two walked into the research lab, located on the level above and directly above the power room.  Bloodstone took a seat in one of the chairs while Verdelite grabbed a clear cylindrical container, capped with metal on the ends with adjustable clamps inside for securing materials, and some tools. Verdelite took the pieces of Achroite's gem and secured it with the clamps, making sure the pieces were completely touching, then moved a short table next to the chair and placed the tools on it Bloodstone was sitting in. She moved Bloodstone's arm over the opened container, which rested on the table.

                "Are you ready?" Verdelite asked, taking a scalpel off the small table.

                "Yes." Bloodstone responded.

                Verdelite took the scalpel and slid it across Bloodstone's wrist, the dark purple blood began to steadily drip into the container. Once the short container was filled Verdelite wiped the blood away from the cut and wrapped it up.

                "Now comes the hardest part, the painstaking wait." Verdelite commented. They had conducted several tests with Bloodstone's healing blood to see if it could repair a shattered gem. Applying a small amount to the pieces while in contact, applying it to the edges of the fracture and putting them together, applying a larger amount, short term submersion, and now the final test, prolonged submersion. Achroite's gem pieces would remain submerged for a week in the healing blood, if it wasn't repaired by then, there was no hope for a shattered gem.

                "Let's hope this works." Bloodstone responded getting up from the chair.

                "If you need anything, I'll be in my room watching and waiting." Verdelite stated. She picked up the container and placed her hand on the temple gate, opening it up to her room. She walked over to the pedestal and warped to top into a flat surface, then she placed the container on it, warping the crystal around the bottom half of it to secure it to the pedestal. She walked over and sat down on the stump, picking her palette and brush up again, she began to continue work on the painting, humming as she worked.

-Roughly a week later-

                Verdelite hadn't left her room once since she placed Achroite's gem pieces on the pedestal, she wanted to be there _if_ Achroite reformed. She had been working on the same painting, and was just beginning to put the final touches on it. The blood in the container began to glow softly, then it slowly grew brighter, catching Verdelite's attention. She placed her things down and rushed over to the pedestal as the glow hit its peak and began to dim down again, she took the cap off and pulled Achroite's gem out once the glow had completely died out. Achroite's gem was fused together again, the only indication that it had been shattered was a thin grey line that ran across were it had refused, like a scar. Verdelite warped the crystals away from the container and grabbed it with her free hand, then warping the pedestal back to its original form and placing Achroite's gem back on it. She walked over to the table and placed the container on it, then she took her seat on the stump and started finishing up the painting. To most the painting wouldn't hold as much sentimentality as it did for Verdelite, it depicted two hands with gems embedded in them reaching for each other, the lower one was sinking into darkness while the upper one was descending from the light. Not too long after she finished the painting Achroite's gem began to rise off the pedestal, floating a little ways towards Verdelite before a mannequin-like body formed around the gem. The body became more refined and finer details formed around that and the figure dropped to the ground, she glanced around with a look of confusion on her face.

                " Where are we?" Achroite asked, already having noticed Verdelite.

                "We're on the lowest level of Wasure Temple, in my room." Verdelite responded while she walked over to help Achroite up, that's when she noticed the scar carried over to her physical form as well. The scar wrapped around her body from the right shoulder the middle of her left arm, she was also certain it ran all the way to the mid left of her abdomen under her dress as well.

                "Your room?" Achroite questioned, a confused look spreading across her face.

                "It's a long story, and I'll tell you all about it later." Verdelite stated. Without warning she hugged Achroite and buried her face in her chest, beginning to cry. "Do you remember what happened?"

                "Yes, so much so I can even remember the feeling of the axe slicing through my gem." Achroite replied.

                "I so sorry." Verdelite blurted out.

                "What are you sorry about?" Achroite inquired.

                "I thought I'd never see you again, and it's all my fault" Verdelite cried, squeezing Achroite harder.

                "What do you mean it's all your fault?" Achroite asked, hugging Verdelite in an attempt to help calm her down.

                "I failed to protect the only thing I have, the very thing that pulled me out of the darkness and loneliness, I failed to protect, you." Verdelite sobbed.

                "You've been replaying it over and over, looking for what you could have done differently, haven't you, and  it's lead you to think you're to blame." Achroite asked, though she already knew the answer.

                "Lately I've been thinking my photographic memory is more of a curse than a gift. Every time I thought about you that scene would play through my head, the look of terror on your face as you were cleaved in half, it haunts me, how could I not?" Verdelite mumbled, looking up at Achroite, tears still streaming down her face.

                "I'm here now because of you _, you saved me_." Achroite responded, meeting Verdelite's gaze with her scarlet colored eyes.    

                "But if I had protected you I wouldn't be a fugitive and you wouldn't have been shattered, and we could still be happily working on our next project." Verdelite responded.

                "We can't change the choices you've made up until now, and though I don't know them all, I trust you. I'd happily stand by your side through hell and back." Achroite encouraged.

                "Why? Why do you have so much faith in me?" Verdelite whimpered as she began to sob harder, breaking the gaze to reburying her face in Achroite's chest. In response Achroite started to sing, trying to comfort her.

"Late at night I could hear the crying  
I hear it all, trying to fall asleep

When all the love around you is dying

 

How do you stay so strong?  
How did you hide it all for so long?  
How can I take the pain away?  
How can I save

 

A fallen angel, in the dark  
Never thought you'd fall so far  
Fallen angel, close your eyes  
I won't let you fall tonight  
Fallen angel

 

You do it all for my own protection  
You make me feel like I'll be okay  
Still I have so many questions

 

How do you stay so strong?  
How did you hide it all for so long?  
How can I take the pain away?  
How can I save,

A fallen angel, in the dark  
Never thought you'd fall so far  
Fallen angel, close your eyes  
I won't let you fall tonight  
Fallen angel, just let go  
You don't have to be alone  
Fallen angel, close your eyes  
I won't let you fall tonight

 

I was right beside you  
When you went to hell and back again  
I was right beside you  
When you went to hell and back again  
And I, I couldn't save, a fallen angel

 

A fallen angel, in the dark  
Never thought you'd fall so far  
Fallen angel, close your eyes  
I won't let you fall tonight  
Fallen angel, just let go  
You don't have to be alone  
Fallen angel, close your eyes  
I won't let you fall tonight  
Fallen angel"

_(Fallen Angel-Three Days Grace)_

                " You were self aware while you were shattered weren't you?" Verdelite gasped.

                "Yes, though I didn't pick up much. I did, however, hear you when you cried, and it hurt me. I knew I was the one who was causing your grief, but I couldn't help you nor did I know you blamed yourself for me being shattered." Achroite faltered, starting to lose her composure. Tears were beginning to well up in her eyes and roll down her cheeks.

                " I've never seen you cry before." Verdelite realized, a little surprised that Achroite had lost her usually calm composure.

                " I've never had anything worth caring about before. Now I have you, the only thing I have left." Achroite responded.

                "Let's try to stop crying so I can show you to the others, okay?" Verdelite suggested, sniffling as she tried to get her emotions under control, Achroite following suit.

                "Others?" Achroite inquired, not knowing what Verdelite was talking about.

                "I'll explain it later." Verdelite replied, sniffling again. She lead Achroite to the temple gate and opened it with the touch of her hand.

                "Where are we?" Achroite asked as her and Verdelite walked into the small room. It had a few monitors and a central console.

                "The communication room. From here I can contact any room in the temple." Verdelite replied walking over to the console.

                "What are we doing here?" Achroite inquired.

                "It's easier to get a hold of them like this. I haven't been out of my room in a week so I don't know what they're up to." Verdelite answered. She hadn't really had any contact with the others when she was waiting for Achroite to reform. She took a crystal from the console and began to speak into it. "Bloodstone, Zircon, meet me in front of the temple gate in a moment. I have some news to share with you."

                "Bloodstone and Zircon... I've never heard of either of those gems." Achroite stated, a hint of nervousness in her voice.

                "I hadn't either until I met them. Now let's get out there so we can greet them." Verdelite responded. She opened the gate and the two walked out into the South Hall.

                "The temple is as beautiful as I remember." Achroite commented as she looked at the art she and Verdelite had done.

                "I felt the same way when I came here for the first time since we finished." Verdelite stated. She turned around when she heard the temple gate open, Bloodstone and Zircon walking out. Achroite's shyness took over as she hid behind the column next to Verdelite, peeking around just enough to see.

                "Why did you call us out here?" Bloodstone asked, not noticing Achroite. Zircon however, noticed Achroite and, always weary of her surroundings and a bit nervous, slowly and carefully moved into a combat stance.

                "I wanted to introduce you to..." Verdelite looked to her side and noticed Achroite wasn't there. Then it occurred to her that Achroite didn't do well in social situations. She turned around and noticed Achroite peeking out from behind the column, she took Achroite by the hand and coaxed her out. "...Achroite"

                "H-hello." Achroite stuttered. A dark gray blush spreading across her face.

                "Why hello. It's nice to meet you Achroite, I'm glad to see it worked this time." Bloodstone started, "I'm Bloodstone, but you can call me Blood."Noticing Bloodstone treating this gem as an ally, Zircon relaxes her stance a bit and nods at Achroite.

                "N-nice to meet y-you" Achroite responded, still visibly nervous.

                "If you hadn't noticed, she's quite shy." Verdelite pointed out.

                "Very, but I'm sure she'll warm up to us sooner or later." Bloodstone said, giving Achroite a warm smile. Zircon was still a bit nervous, so she simply smirked and waved at Achroite. Verdelite took her hand off of Achroite and walked over to Bloodstone.

                "Thank you so much." Verdelite stated as she stooped over and gave Bloodstone a hug, earning a puzzled look from Achroite and Zircon.

                "I'm glad I could help you get back what once was lost and I'll make sure with my life that you never lose her again." Bloodstone pledged. Verdelite released her from the hug and walked back over to Achroite.

                "W-what was t-that about." Achroite asked.

                "She's the one who helped me fix your gem." Verdelite replied.

                "O-oh! Thank you v-very much Blood." Achroite stammered, bowing at Bloodstone.

                "It was my pleasure." Bloodstone responded, a smile planted on her face. "Anything for family."

                "F-family?" Achroite asked, bewildered by the statement. Zircon began to make her way towards the courtyard gate as she realized that the conversation didn't pertain to her.

                "What else can we call ourselves. We're all each other have now." Verdelite said, looking at the other two.

                "Family. I-I like the sound o-of that." Achroite stated.

                "I'm glad to hear that." Bloodstone replied. Zircon listened intently to the conversation through the courtyard door.


	6. Free Will

                With a resounding crash, the heavy metal door was launched from its frame, poofing the lab technician it had pinned against the floor. A blue tinted figure walked out from the twisted remains of the door frame. Its body was fairly transparent and had loose looking black wrappings in the place of normal gem appearance modifiers. It turned to look down the hall, spying a lab technician it swiftly moved where they were standing and grabbed them by the throat before they could react.

                "Where is the warp pad?" It demanded.

                "Go d-down that hallway and m-make a-a left, then just k-keep going till you r-reach a large c-chamber." The tech stuttered, fearing for their life. The blue tinted figure dropped the tech and followed the their directions and entered the chamber by ripping the door out in a similar fashion to last time. In the middle of the chamber stood the warp pad, surrounded by  several large quartz soldiers.

                "Halt!" One commanded.

                "Move." The blue tinted figure stated as it continued walking forward. The soldiers materializing their weapons in response to the action.

                "Halt or be shattered!" Another one commanded.

                "Fools." It said, a glint of anger forming in its eyes, and continued walking.

                When it failed to comply with the second command, one of the soldiers with an oversized axe took a swing at the blue tinted figure. The axe cut through its transparent body, which almost immediately reconstituted itself as the axe edge moved through it.  Taking advantage of the soldier's momentary confusion the figure deftly ripped the soldier's gem out and gripped it tightly, as if it was trying to crush it. After what appeared to be a moment of deliberation it threw the gem across the room, hitting the ground with a metallic clink. One of the others lunged at the figure with its sword. The figure grabbed the soldier's face and crushed it, poofing them as their gem clattered to the ground.

                "That was a warning, the next one who tries anything gets shattered." The figure stated bluntly as it walked the little distance left to the warp pad. The other soldiers had a terrified look in their eyes as they slowly backed away from the figure, who was stepping on the warp pad. The warp pad activated and a pillar of light erupted from it as the figure was warped away.

                "C-contact the DSE and tell them we have a Code Omega!" One of the remaining soldiers yelled at the other, who took a few seconds to comprehend what had happened before running out of the room.

. . . . .

                The veil of darkness that hung over the chamber was dissolved by the light erupting from the central warp pad. The figure stepped off the warp pad as the veil of darkness enveloped the chamber once more. The figure shifted its gem from its left shoulder to the palm of its hand and it began to glow a bright cerulean, illuminated a small portion of the massive room. The figure walked around, taking its time to look at everything it passed with nostalgia. It stopped when it reached one of the large mirror-like surface spider webbed with cracks towards the bottom. The figure sat down on the floor and looked at the reflective surface, which suddenly flickered to life, depicting a gem similar to the figure sitting on the floor. The figure's eyes were transfixed to the images flashing across the cracked surface, as if it had fallen into a trance.

-A couple weeks later-

                "Where are you going?" Achroite asked, walking up to Verdelite, who was standing in the snow covered courtyard next to the warp pad.

                "I'm going scavenging for some parts. I found some interesting places to rummage through while digging through files on the network." Verdelite answered.

                "C-can I go with you?" Achroite asked.

                "Of course." Verdelite replied with a warm smile. The two walked to the warp pad and disappeared in a pillar of light.

. . . . .

                The pair reemerged from the pillar of light, that was now cutting through the darkness in the room. They stepped down and used the glow of their gems to get around.

                "So what are we looking for?" Achroite asked. She had never gone with Verdelite when she went scavenging, despite the fact Verdelite went several times a week and always offered to take others along.

                "Anything that looks like it would be useful for something." Verdelite answered. She wondered what made Achroite decide to accompany her today, though her musings were cut short by Achroite's voice.

                "Why do you go scavenging all the time?" She questioned, inspecting some things strewn about the room.

                "There's parts of the temple that need to be repaired and I guess scavenging gives me something to help take my mind off of things." Verdelite explained, rummaging through the remains of some machinery.

                "What do you mean things." Achroite inquired. The only reason she had asked to go with Verdelite was because she noticed that Verdelite always looked troubled when she went out, and it bothered her.

                "I'd rather not talk about it." Verdelite responded, her face also conveying that she didn't want to delve deeper into this topic.

                "Okay, just remember you can always talk to me about it. Also remember that no matter what you tell me, I will never leave your side and my respect for you will never waver." Achroite reassured as two walked deeper into the room , finally arriving at a door.

                "Thanks, I'll remember that." Verdelite stated as she manually slid the door open. The two were met with a long hallway with a faint light at the end.

                "I wonder what could be producing that light?" Achroite asked.

                "I don't know, but this place has been abandoned for hundreds of years, ever since it was damaged during the rebellion. Nothing should be in good enough condition to be producing that much light." Verdelite responded.

                The pair softly walked  to the end of the hallway, they ceased the glow of their gems as they stepped into the large central chamber with mirror like surfaces adorning the walls. In the middle of the room was a solitary figure, sitting on the ground and staring at images flickering across the reflective surface in front of it. The figure showed no signs of having noticed the two's presence, so Verdelite turned her attention to the images that illuminated the chamber. The gem in the images bore a striking resemblance to the figure, but there was the subtle differences between them that warranted some doubt.

                "What do you think she's saying?" Achroite whispered softly.

                "I'm not sure, but those images look like memories." Verdelite theorized, now genuinely curious about the figure and the images.

                "I think you're right. More importantly do you feel that feeling of despair hanging in the air. Something about this scene looks so... heart rending." Achroite observed, an urge to go comfort the figure was forming.

                "Go, and be careful." Verdelite stated. She could clearly see Achroite's desire to comfort the figure. She would have done it herself had it just been her or one of the others, but she knew that Achroite held a gentle warmth within her that made it easy to open up to her. She also had an immense capacity for empathy that made it easy for her to relate to others.

                Thanks, and don't worry I'll be careful." Achroite replied as she slowly made her way to the figure. She softly sat down next to figure, who seemed to be to consumed with the images to notice her presence, not that her natural lack of presence was helping. She sat there in silence for a little while, watching the figure mouthing something to quiet for Achroite to pick up. Verdelite keeping an eye on them from in front of the hallway. Then, without warning, the figure cocked there head to the side and looked Achroite directly in the eyes.

                "Who are you?" It asked. The figure's face and voice were expressionless and cold.

                "U-um, my name is A-Achroite. What's yours?" Achroite asked, the figure's gaze was making her more nervous than she usually was and causing her stutter to worsen. She broke eye contact and turned her head to try to ease her nerves. 

                "I don't have one anymore. Will you please go away and leave me alone." It responded bluntly.

                "I-I can't, I'm r-really sorry, but I-I can't." Achroite stuttered.

                "And why is that?" It inquired.

                "I-It's really u-unhealthy to be a-alone. I can't j-just ignore the fact t-that you're a-all by yourself h-here." Achroite justified.

                "We are complete strangers, so it should be a simple task to just ignore me and leave." It explained, turning its head back towards the screen.

                "No i-it's not that s-simple." Achroite persisted.

                "What do I have to do to get you to leave me alone?" It asked, sensing that Achroite wasn't going to go away easily.

                "Y-you have to s-stay at t-the temple I-I live at. That way y-you can b-be alone and n-not alone at t-the same time." Achroite answered, anxiously waiting for the figure's response.

                "I'll go with you." It accepted. Both gems stood up and walked over to the hallway entrance where Verdelite was standing. 

                "This is Verdelite, she's a close friend who also lives at the temple." Achroite explained as they all made their way down the hall to the warp pad and disappearing into the pillar of light.  

. . . . .

                As the three walked off the warp pad Achroite and Verdelite saw what the figure truly looked like. _She_ had long, cerulean blue tinted hair and a bright turquoise tinted body, both with a high degree of transparency. Her clothes consisted of what appeared to be black wrappings, somewhere underneath them resided her gem.

                "This place looks... bleak." She stated, looking around at the snow covered surroundings.

                "The outside might, but the inside is beautiful." Verdelite reassured as they walked through the door to the South Hall and up to the Temple Gate.

                Achroite gently placed her hand on the door, which glowed a brilliant white and faded away. They stepped into a room with a bright blue sky and grass covered ground. In the middle was a pergola constructed from a glossy white stone on a pad of similar material and pale blue flowers snaked their way around it's tresses. Under the pergola was a multi tiered fountain with crystal clear water flowing down.

                "T-this is my room. It's amazing i-isn't it Cerulean?" Achroite asked, directing the question at the blue tinted gem.

                "Who, me?" She responded, pointing at herself. Her face expressing the confusion in her voice.

                 "Yeah, you. You s-said you didn't know what your n-name was anymore, so I tried to think one up w-while we were talking. W-when we got to the courtyard I saw y-your cerulean blue hair and I thought, why d-don't we call you C-cerulean." Achroite reasoned, "It doesn't b-bother you does it?"

                "No. I guess you have to identify me somehow." Cerulean replied.

                "Since you're staying here you should make yourself a room too." Verdelite chimed in.

                "Okay. I assume you will instruct me on how to go about that?" Cerulean asked.

                "Follow me and I'll teach you the basics." Verdelite offered.

                "Ok." Cerulean accepted, Verdelite leading her out of the room.


	7. Pursuers

"What do you mean you were afraid? You're a proud quartz solider, you shouldn't feel fear." The pale blue skinned gem reprimanded.

                "I have fought in many wars and faced opponents a lot stronger than myself, but this thing was different. It had a body that wasn't affected by our attacks and the way it attacked was precise and calculated, but at the same time it was... savage. It was only natural we would be afraid." The soldier responded, the images still fresh in their mind. The two then turned their attention to the lab technician that had walked up to them.

                "Excuse me Dumortierite. Chaistolite requests your presence in the surveillance room. " They informed.   

                "Understood." Dumortierite replied, walking from the chamber that housed the warp pad down the hall to the surveillance room. Standing over the console was a brown skinned gem, looking intensely at the footage that was displayed on the screen.

                "Dumortierite take a look at this footage." She said, looking over her shoulder at Dumortierite. Dumortierite walked up beside the other gem and studied the footage.

                "I understand why it struck fear in the soldiers. That thing is far more than a match for all of them combined. Don't you agree Chaistolite?" Dumortierite observed, watching as the footage showed one of the soldiers getting their head crushed by the thing's bare hand.

                "Indeed. I have also concluded that it is more than a match for the two of us as well. I need you to contact Japer and tell her to bring Rutile with her." She instructed.

                "Is the situation really dire enough to warrant unleashing Rutile?" Dumortierite asked, her concern evident in the tone of her voice.

                "I'm afraid so." Chaistolite responded.

                "If that's what it takes I'll go contact her immediately." Dumortierite stated, walking out of the room.

. . . . .

                The striped orange gem approached the yellow hued screen of energy in front of one of the cells lining the hall. Inside sat a reddish-brown skinned gem, who's hands and arms were bound together with sturdy metal bands. Its head was leaned back against the cell wall and its eyes were closed, a noticeably large smile was planted on its face. The other gem used the pad next to the cell to deactivate the energy screen and take a step inside.

                "Rutile, your assistance has been requested by the DES. You've been placed under my watch for the duration of this assignment." The orange skinned gem stated.

                "Awww, no need to be so formal. Didn't 'cha miss me Jasp?" Rutile giggled, lifting her head up off the wall and leaning forward, opening her eyes.

                "Just shut up and come on." Jasper ordered, turning around and leaving the cell. Rutile hopped up to her feet and followed Jasper down the hall. They walked up on a warp pad and vanished into the pillar of light.

. . . . .

                "Chaistolite, Jasper and Rutile have arrived." Dumortierite reported, standing in the doorway.

                "Bring them in for briefing." Chaistolite ordered, turning around to face Dumortierite. She left for a few moments and walked back into the room with Jasper and Rutile trailing behind her.

                "Long time no see Chai." Rutile blurted out immediately upon making eye contact with Chaistolite.

                "Now that we're all here it's time for the briefing." Chaistolite stated, ignoring Rutile's greeting. "We are tracking a defect unlike any we have ever faced before. This one is the byproduct of the GOLEM Project, meaning it was engineered to be a soldier that far surpasses even the toughest quartz. Its body is composed of water, and it can almost instantaneously regenerate from any damage we inflict on it. The only way to subdue it is to extract and confine its gem or shatter it. I have also been informed by the lab technicians that it has extremely potent hydrokinesis and cryokinesis along with extremely refined combat instincts. We have been ordered to shatter it on sight, even at the cost of our own lives. Any questions?"

                "Do we know where it was headed?" Jasper inquired.

                "The technicians traced the warp pad's coordinates to the ruins of Blue Diamond's Temple of Mirrors." Chaistolite answered.

                "Can we go now, I can't wait to fight it." Rutile squealed, jumping up and down.

                "We will depart within the next few earth cycles, the head scientist is working on something to help make combating this thing easier." Chaistolite responded.

                "But I wanna fight it NOW!" Rutile whined.

                "Shut up and be patient Rutile!" Dumortierite bellowed. Rutile plopped down on the ground and began to sulk.

                "So what is this thing we're waiting on exactly?" Jasper asked.

                "A destabilizer. It's a device that temporarily severs the connection between a gem and its body." Chaistolite explained.

                "And you're sure it will help us against this thing?" Jasper followed up, trying to decide whether the wait was going to be worth the lost time or not.

                "Absolutely." Chaistolite reassured


End file.
